1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reel braking device for use in a deck mechanism for small-sized tape recorders and more particularly, to a reel braking device for use in a deck mechanism for small-sized tape recorders which is capable of preventing a reel gear of a take-up reel table from being rotated in an inverse direction or allowing the reel gear to be rotated in a normal direction by rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in accordance with the rotational direction of the reel gear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in the deck mechanism of small-sized tape recorders, a reel gear is provided below a take-up reel which rotates the take-up reel by receiving power from an idler gear, and a reel braking device is disposed adjacent to the reel gear which restricts the inverse rotation of the reel gear. A typical reel braking device is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 90-18598, filed on Nov. 16, 1990 in the name of the same applicant as the present invention. The reel braking device disclosed in this reference is constituted such that a shaft is fixed on a base plate adjacent to a reel gear, a braking gear is rotatably mounted to the shaft through the intermediary of a coil spring which is meshed with the reel gear, an arm having at its one end a claw which is coaxially mounted to the shaft through the intermediary of a frictional member such as a felt so that the braking gear meshing with the reel gear rotates the arm by rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in accordance with the rotational direction of the reel gear. When the reel gear is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, that is, when a tape is released from the take-up reel, the claw of the arm is meshed with the reel gear, thereby restricting the rotation of the reel gear in a counterclockwise direction. Under such a condition that the counterclockwise rotation of the reel gear is restricted, the take-up reel is rotated by the releasing force of tape with the frictional force of the felt so that the tape is prevented from being freely released, while receiving a predetermined tensional force.
However, such a conventional reel braking device has disadvantages in that since the coil spring is in direct contact with the lower surface of the braking gear, the entanglement of the coil spring may occur when the braking gear is continuously rotated in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in accordance with the rotational direction of the reel gear, whereby the rotational operation of the braking gear is not smoothly carried out.
Moreover, since such a conventional reel braking device requires a relatively large number of parts, the assembling work becomes cumbersome and the manufacturing cost rises.